Don't Drink and Drive

Well after an extremely frustrating gardening year  for most gardeners and "allotmenteers" in UK, I would just like to wish all of my readers and followers a very happy and merry Christmas.

 

 Don't Lose the Plot at Christmas !!

Still Digging (Part 7)!! Restarted !

A Touch of Frost

I had fully expected the digging and removal of the Dandelions, Creeping Buttercups and other weeds, from the main, central bed on N2 plot to have been completed before Christmas. Up until Sunday last, the soil was still too wet to walk or work on. I finally managed to resume digging by late morning on Sunday the 9th, which was a cold but gloriously sunny day. By late afternoon, working across the bed, I had double dug, back approximately 2 feet of ground, removing roots, weeds and debris as I turned over the damp clay soil.

Frozen Raspberry Bed N1 Plot

 Heavy overnight ground frosts have been a feature of our local weather, for a week or so recently. Any newly dug soil is breaking down nicely thanks to the effects of the frost, although the weak Winter sunshine has left the grounds' surface fairly damp and sticky, as it melted away the frost. I spent most of last Monday continuing the work on the central bed. Many of the large Dandelion roots were slightly easier to remove from the soil encasing them, due to the fact that the combination of frost and sunlight had made the soil less sticky and more friable, across most of the bed. I continued with the digging and weeding on Tuesday and by the time it was getting dark, I had progressed back down the bed another 2 feet or so.

About 15 Feet to Complete

There was a particularly heavy frost on Tuesday night and as it melted on Wednesday morning, it left the soils' surface slippery underfoot so I decided to move my digging efforts to one of the smaller beds. These smaller beds seem to have a greater depth of top soil on them, as opposed to clay, thus making the digging easier and removal of weeds slightly quicker to do. By Wednesday evening this bed was almost fully dug over and weed free, with only a couple of feet of ground left to deal with. One and a half good sized barrow loads of roots and weeds were removed from this bed alone. It has been very noticeable, (and probably due to this years wet weather), just how many Slugs, Earwigs and Cut worms, plus their eggs, have been apparent within the soil, whilst I have been turning it over. I expect there will be a large rise in the number of these particular pests next year, with an upsurge in their efforts to attack various vegetable crops at will. I was glad to see a few Cut worms, still encased in their tombs of soil, where they had been frozen to death, by the recent frosts.

First Barrow Load of  Roots from Small Bed N2 Plot

 Yesterday was a none starter due to the fact that someone told me it was only 12 days to Christmas, (that's funny I thought, I haven't seen any Partridges in my Pear tree lately). I decided it was time to get some shopping done. Having eaten a host of mince pies, already, since yesterday, it was time for my favorite shopping experience again today, (the local supermarket). Just as well as its been raining heavily for most of the day, making more digging etc out of the question, except for digging into some more mince pies that is, love em!

  There's always tomorrow!

1 Creeping Buttercup Root

Frozen Leaf & a Few Snowflakes

      

Baahh Humbug!!

I ventured down to my plots again, last Saturday in the hope that I could achieve some constructive work there, after a dry cold week with most days being breezy and sunny. Not a bit of it. The ground was still incredibly wet with even the grass paths squelching underfoot. After a quick perusal of the situation I deposited more kitchen waste on the compost heap and left for home in my car which skidded in the mud, as I reversed out of my parking space at the top end of plot N2.

Last Wednesday night I attended a regular pub quiz at one of our local rural pubs. Four of the regular teams couldn't make the quiz, due to the fact that their villages were still cut off from the rest of civilization by the recent floods.

At present 16 huge extra pumps (along with 20 other pumping stations) are pumping excess rain water from the Somerset levels (3rd time this year) at a rate of 10 tonnes per second, into the local rivers. If there is no further rainfall, it will take a full month to bring the water levels down to acceptable levels. Guess what, it's been raining here again since about midday yesterday.

Several villages around the levels area are still cut off by the flood waters. As of last Friday repair crews were still working to clear some of the 13 landslips from the rail lines between Exeter and Plymouth.  One statistic I heard recently, was that Somerset was subjected to 280% more rainfall than it "normally" gets in November. What were the figures for your area??

This is a link to the BBC's article about the pumping operations CLICK HERE.

UPDATE TO THE ABOVE POST 

5 more pumps have recently been added to the ones already pumping rain water from the Somerset Levels and surrounding areas. 20 Tonnes of water per second are now being pumped out. The main Taunton to Glastonbury trunk road is still under water as is the A361 between East Lyng and Burrowbridge, along with other areas in between. Muchelney is still badly affected by the flood waters. It is estimated that it will take at least until Christmas to deal with the estimated 43 million Tonnes of water, currently swamping the Levels.

FURTHER (LOCAL) UPDATE (31/12/2012)

 
 The River Yeo at Pen Mill and Ilchester peaked in the early hours of Sunday morning, and has now fallen to safer levels. High river levels remain further downstream where the River Yeo and River Parrett meet, near Langport. The risk of flooding remains in these areas, particularly to low lying land and roads near Muchelney and Thorney. A band of persistent rain is forecast to arrive on Monday morning. This will be followed by more showery conditions on Monday afternoon, and Monday evening. Total accumulations of 12 mm of rain are expected on Monday. We may well see river levels in this area rise for a time again on Monday in response to this rain. Pumping will start at Huish Episcopi pumping station as soon as the level of the River Yeo drops enough to safely allow this.

  “Contains Environment Agency information © Environment Agency and database right”

On the upside I've almost finished decorating my house, throughout, this year thanks to the rain.

There's always tomorrow??

Rooko's December Top 10 Tryouts & Tips!!

1. Most Brassica require the presence of Boron in the soil for their healthy growth. Boron deficiency occurs more quickly in dry light, sandy soils and leaches out of soils fairly easily. Some of the ways that Boron aids plant development are in pollination, moving sugars within the plants and fixing nitrogen. A high concentration of organic matter in the soil where Brassicas are being grown will help to retain Boron. If you are having difficulty with your Cauliflower curds not developing or going brown, Boron deficiency could be the cause. Turnips and Swedes also react badly to Boron deficiency.

2. If you are one of those kind people who feed wild birds during the Winter, ensure that they also have a supply of drinking water and that it does not freeze over.

3. Try the following method to keep Wood Pigeons off your vegetables. Place canes/sticks in the ground upright, spaced approximately 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20cm) apart, around the perimeter of the growing area. This method is probably best used over smallish areas, i.e. 2 or 3, 15 foot rows of for instance Cabbages. If you find that this method works it will do away with the need to use netting or other fiddly protection, giving you easier access to any areas needing weeding etc.

4. Although I like to keep my allotments as weed free as possible, weeds can be of assistance in some cases. Birds feed on weed seeds, weeds help to maintain moisture/ nitrogen in the soil.

5. Try leaving a few crushed Garlic cloves around in your shed/greenhouse over the Winter, to deter vermin.

6. December is a good time to remove dead foliage and stems from your perennial plants, if you have not done so already.

7. December is a good time to plant Rhubarb Crowns. Keep them covered with straw, cardboard or wooden boxes. If you use plastic containers to cover Rhubarb (or other plants) it is likely to "sweat" inside, so beware of the moisture freezing.

8. Christmas will be here soon, remember that the discarded packaging such as cardboard and paper can be composted and all those pieces of string/ribbon used around Christmas presents, will make good plant ties later.

9.  Now maybe a good time to check all your garden tools and equipment for damage and clean/maintain them. If any are beyond repair, put the word out to friends and family about ideas for Christmas presents?

10. Most gardeners need more Thyme down the plot or out in the garden. Take some Thyme for family, Thyme for friends, Thyme for each other, Thyme to reflect and leave some Thyme on your hands.

Still Digging (Part 6)!! Not Bl***y Likely!

A Quick Visit to The Plot

 Although I appreciate that many parts of the UK are again suffering from the ravages of continuous rain and high winds, we are certainly taking a hammering south and south west of Bristol. With even more flood warnings issued for Somerset tonight there's more wind and rain to come. Cornwall and Devon are badly affected too, with danger to life warnings issued by the Environment Agency, earlier this evening, for parts of Cornwall. The rain is torrential here as I write this post and the winds are expected to reach 70 mph later on tonight. Although we have received many and frequent weather updates, from our local news bulletins and weather forecasters, there seems to be a distinct lack of so called experts to tell us WHY we are being subjected to such dramatic weather conditions. I expect if and when the rain finally stops, the usual comment will be "we have lessons to learn".

What's your opinion about the recent deluges? Is it just another "typical British Winter setting in", Is it one aspect of global warming? Is it due to carbon footprints? Is it due to global pollution, deforestation, building on flood plains, antiquated infrastructure or an alien plot etc etc. If you haven't yet seen the disaster film (movie), called The Day After Tomorrow (2004), starring Dennis Quaid and Jake Gyllenhaal, have a look. Although its fictional, perhaps the film makers know something the experts don't about the weather.

Brussels Blown Over

  I visited my plots this morning, for a mere 10 minutes, in the rain, to check things out for the first time since last weekend. The lower part of my new plot is under water with the water level in the nearby drainage ditch rising steadily. A few of my cloches, which were well pegged down? had been blown about by the recent high winds. A few of my Brussels had also been blown over. The allotments were looking totally windswept and sopping wet, with many of the plots to the North of the top road having several inches of standing water on them, adjacent to the road. Apart from some plastic compost bins a few tree branches and several pieces of plastic sheeting being blown about, there didn't seem to be too much serious damage. After I had deposited a couple of bag fulls of kitchen waste onto my compost heap I left for home to warm up and dry off.

Lower End of My New Plot 24/Nov/12

No Digging the Dandelions Here

Cloches Displaced by the Winds

 Never mind there's always the day after tomorrow.

 

Ceasefire (But Still Digging Part 5)!!

Saturday Evenings Sky Over the Plot

 The battle against the Dandelions on the central bed of my new plot was put on hold last week, mainly due to 2 factors. The first being misty damp weather making the soil just a bit too sticky to work with, using a garden fork or spade. The second reason was that my main plot was being neglected in favour of the new plot, over the last four weeks. Having "Hamassed" approximately 140 hours digging over the new plot recently I decided it "Israelly" time to finish preparing my main plot for next year, before the Winter weather takes a turn for the worse, so a standoff was implemented and the ground forces moved to the main plot.

Next Years Brassica Bed Dug and Weeded 6 Barrow Loads of Compost Added

 Last Tuesday was spent digging over this years roots bed, removing 2 part rows of unusable carrots and a few annual weeds. The soil over most of my main plot is far more "workable" than that of my new plot, despite the overnight foggy and misty weather of late. Having completed this bed I then cleared out my old compost bin, depositing 6 barrow loads of well rotted compost onto the recently dug bed to be used for next years Brassicas, keeping the compost away from the Senshyu Onions growing along the top edge of the bed.

Old Compost Bin Almost Empty

New Compost Bin Full Already

This Years Roots Bed Weeded and Dug Leaving Leeks in Situ

 With 3 out of 4 of my beds now ready for next season, on Wednesday I decided to turn over the soil on the L-shaped bed at the lower end of my plot. The 3 Rhubarb plants growing in this bed were manured and earthed up first. Working down the slope I turned the soil, down to a depth of 1 spit, removing weeds, fallen leaves, from the nearby trees, and any other unwanted debris as I progressed. By Wednesday evening I had reached the lower end of the slope with the "foot" of the L-shape to be completed. On Thursday digging along the bed continued at a slower pace, as I needed to remove lots of roots left behind from the 4 Goji Trees I removed from this area, earlier this year. My main Blackberry plant, protected by 2 car tyres, was secured to a nearby fencing panel and 3 other, badly situated, Blackberry plants were moved and re-planted in front of the same fence panel.

Side of L-shape Bed Dug and Weeded

Base of L-shape Almost Finished

Blackberry Plant Protected by Tyres

Raspberry Canes Pruned Back (This Bed Still To Be Weeded)

Blackcurrant Bed Still To Be Weeded and Bushes Pruned (Bushes Are Well in Bud Already)

     It was a misty damp day on Friday with extremely heavy rain on Friday evening, my next visit to the plot was on Saturday afternoon. The beds were too damp for any digging, so a few tidying up jobs were done and I pruned back the Raspberry canes on my main plot, moved a couple frogs, which were hibernating amongst the mulch around the Raspberry plants, taking them to the sanctuary of the drainage ditch at the bottom of my plot and consigned the Raspberry canes to the new compost heap/bin minus any frogs.

Strawberry/Gooseberry Bed Remains Weed Free

  On Sunday I carried on with the digging from where I left off on Thursday, removing more Goji roots and annual weeds. Todays' weather was damp and overcast with a few showers, but not serious enough to stop the digging process. Hopefully the L-shape will be finished by tomorrow evening, although the rain is back again at the moment.

Brussels for Christmas (This years Brassica Bed to Be Tidied Up After The Brussels Are Picked)

Spring Cabbages for Transplanting Later On

Pirate, Cricketer or Lion Tamer Still Digging (Part 4)

Anyone who has compiled their own C.V. will know that 2 of the "required fields" on a C.V. are, qualifications and experiences. It's also quite a common phenomenon that when you are carrying out continual repeated tasks, such as digging, that your mind ponders over other subjects at the same time. It's been slow progress again this week down the plot, only turning over another 4 feet of ground to remove the weeds from the central bed on plot N2. As I progress down the slightly sloping ground more and more of the Dandelion roots are reaching down into the sub-soil levels. There have been 3 or 4 pleasant dry days since last Monday but with overnight and evening rain, torrential again last night, the soil has been too wet and sticky to achieve much consistent digging. This brings me back to my opening comment about C.V.'s. Having to dig down well over 2 spits to remove many of the roots embedded in the sub-soils, I was thinking about how Pirates felt when they were burying their treasure on some uncharted island or elsewhere. How was their backache? (First qualification done). Cricketers? Well that's an easy one this year, spending most of their time in the pavilion, (shed), in my case, due to rain stopping play. (Second qualification done). Lion Tamer (Third qualification done). Dande Lions that is, the real Lions are too dangerous to mess about with. 

Now on with the more serious stuff. Yesterday I set about removing the remaining French Climbing beans, Borlotties and late Pea plants from the legumes bed on my main plot. I picked a container full of beans, to be used for next years seeds, but due to their dampness I don't hold out much hope for their survival. The variety of garden canes used for supports, along with the pea sticks were cleaned and stored away in my shed, until they are needed again. The weaker/decaying canes and sticks were broken up and consigned to the compost heap. By yesterday evening, I had forked over this bed, (the soil is lighter and more workable than N2 plot), except for a couple of feet at the top end, where 3 rows of Senshyu Onions are currently growing well. My next job with this bed will be to add some compost to it, before it is used for next years Brassicas. Although the grass areas of the plots are wet and not likely to completely dry out without a prolonged dry spell of weather, I decided to mow them. My mower has just been serviced and the blades sharpened which was just as well. Cutting wet grass is not generally a good idea. On the up side, the grass cuttings will make good compost/mulch.

As I have mentioned in some of my previous posts, when the wet weather has prevented me from visiting the plots this year I have been decorating and doing some D.I.Y.
 I thought it was time this week to start doing some planning for next years sowing and planting. The following diagram of my new N2 plot, (not to scale), is a rough outline of next years crops, what goes where? Once the weeds and Dandelions have been removed that is.

My New Plot (N2) Situated Alongside My Main Plot (N1) The Central Bed is Currently Being Cleared of Dandelions